Spotlight on Minerals to Metals: mining for the future

SPOTLIGHT: MINERALS TO METALS
“We need young people who have
an understanding of how to work
in multi-stakeholder groups if we
are to solve the complex problems
facing humanity.”
Greening abandoned mines
Another major research theme in the
work of Minerals to Metals is postmining rehabilitation as a means to
encourage sustainable development.
“There are now 6 000 abandoned
mines in South Africa alone with
more closures expected,” explains
Broadhurst. “Often mines offer a
hub of infrastructure and services,
which can include providing water
and electricity, housing, transport and
health care. When they close, they
leave an economic vacuum.”
Minerals to Metals is piloting the
use of restorative agriculture through
a Community of Practice project with
UCT Mineral Law in Africa, the UCT
Centre for Bioprocess Engineering
Research and UCT Development Policy
Research Unit. Restorative agriculture
can be used to ecologically rehabilitate
land that was previously mined and to
provide post-mining economic activity.
“One of the options we are looking
at is fibre-based plants, such as
bamboo, which generates a multiproduct value chain from simple
products like rope to complex products
like polymers,” she says.
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Urban mines
The practice of recovering useful
minerals from post-consumer waste –
mostly by recycling items that would
end up in landfills – is known as urban
mining. It includes scrap metals and
e-waste – electronics goods often
contain circuit boards and other
components with significant amounts
of valuable metals.
The e-waste chain in South Africa
was something that Zaynab Sadan, a
former Minerals to Metals postgraduate
researcher, studied as part of her
master’s research. She discovered that
the technology to recycle e-waste
already exists, but it was not being used
due to social, economic and legislative
barriers.
“E-waste collection and upgrading is
a small-scale industry in South Africa,”
she says. “It’s currently limited by the
lack of public awareness, the public’s
perception of costly and once-valuable
devices, as well as the risk associated
with data leakage from storage
devices.”
Also, the legal regulations governing
the collection and processing of
e-waste are ambiguous, which leads
to confusion and the danger that
the industry might go underground.
Minerals to Metals is working with
Mineral Law in Africa to clarify the
regulations surrounding e-waste
recycling in South Africa and better
support a waste economy. It is also
teaming up with a local manufacturer to
develop a process for recovering metal
from e-waste.

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